Review: The Last Girl There, Canada Water Theatre

Performed here for one night only as part of Theatre Peckham’s Edinburgh Fringe Preview season, Melissa Irakoze’s The Last Girl There makes a thrilling debut with four young actors from the Queen Mary Theatre Company.

Four best friends, Freya (Martha Suharto), Clara, Ava (Gabriella Kinzett) and Grace (Lily Stuart) have been deep in each other’s lives since secondary school. Now sharing the same halls of residence at university, they continue to be each other’s biggest confidante and drinking buddy. After a celebratory night at a club, they return in the very early hours and, fuelled by alcohol and energy, the party continues. The locations, the company, the time are all hazy. In the morning, Clara is found dead; stabbed in the back with a knife in her kitchen. 

We join the three remaining girls waiting to be quizzed as part of the murder enquiry by a detective (Jai McGuire). The setting is simple: three chairs lined up and lit as if under an investigative spotlight, with the Detective’s desk dipping in and out of the spotlight when the questioning begins. As they wait tentatively to be spoken to, they’re keen to get their stories consistent. Who left when? Who left with whom? What was said? What would Clara say if she was there with them now? Who else had access to the halls? And, importantly, did one of them end the life of their other best friend?

Each girl has a reason to be there and befriended Clara at a slightly different time. This is beautifully developed in the story, with each of the three girls reminiscing and sharing their memories. Martha Suharto as Freya and Gabriella Kinzett as Ava are standouts with some sterling character acting, showing emotion and depth as the grieving friends, seemingly genuine in their connection with each other. Being so close to the audience is a risky tactic, but all three girls do well to convince in their roles. Even when not in focus or being questioned by the detective, they remain in their role in the dark, sharing their feelings and physically supporting each other.

When the detective arrives to begin questioning, the previous evening starts to unravel. This is undeniably a challenging role for a young actor, and getting the balance of firm, menacing murder investigator right and convincing was not quite on point. Each girl takes her turn in being interrogated, and we learn more and more about the complex, multifaceted relationships in front of us. Again, Suharto shines here as Freya, who seems to have had the most complex relationship with the victim. When each girl returns from her grilling, there’s a debrief between the three. The writing, structure and acting here are well crafted. 

As the drama heightens, some unspoken truths are uncovered, and we eventually see some cracks appearing. I’m not sure that two of the girls needed a second turn in front of the detective; Lily Stuart as Grace does not actually get a second chance to shine, which is a shame as her story, and connection to the victim, is definitely one to be explored. As the finale nears, all three girls have high emotions and their true connections to the victim are revealed.

Given the short performance time of just under an hour, I felt fully immersed in the narrative of the piece and found the pace of the storytelling spot on. The sound needs some work, with the music and Clara’s playback being too loud and the ensemble’s voices being too quiet.

But who did it? You’ll have to catch this great work-in-progress at the Edinburgh Fringe to find out.

Writer and Director – Melissa Irakoze
Creative Director – Tollie Farmer
Technical Manager – Avery Lee Kai Xin

The Last Girl There has completed its London preview performance, but you can catch it at the Edinburgh Festival between Monday 17 August and Friday 28 August.